Null Link
by The Blue Jelly
Summary: After a maintenance accident left her in a coma, a summoner named Sera Solryk awakens months later. Reality grows subjective and dimensional stability becomes a witty joke while Sera attempts to regain control of her summoning- and her plane of existence.
1. Reawakening

A dark-haired girl climbed down a ladder, her blue cloak billowing in the breeze from the cave. The lighting was poor, and the source the robed figure descended from was hidden in darkness.

Her feet touched the ground, and as she turned, the cave filled with a haze. She stepped forward, and the walls vanished, being replaced by the edge of a tree line which built up to distant mountains. The source of the haze was sprawled out in front of her.

Smoke exhaled from the once idyllic Ionian village. The Noxian invasion had progressed much farther than it should have, though the pressures from the young League of Legends made it likely that it was coming to an end. A group of what appeared to be Noxian officers were standing by a farmhouse that hadn't been ignited, while the rest of their men set up camp. The girl headed towards them, being completely ignored by the toiling grunts.

The commander looked out on the smoldering cottages with disgust. There was very little honor to be had here, but at least he could take comfort in doing things the traditional way, instead of using the statistic-creating chemical weapons other battalions had forced upon them.

His officers debriefed him as he stared unfocused into the distance. The fighting had lost intensity as of late, and it was all becoming routine. March for a few days, come to a town, sack it, repeat. Only a handful of Noxians would even be injured in a week, mostly because said chemical weapons were drawing the brunt of the resistance elsewhere.

As his last officer finished, he sighed. This wasn't how war was supposed to be. It was supposed to be a fierce struggle where great men proved their mettle. This... This was nothing more than a slaughter. And the moral of the men was suffering because of it.

Just then a glint of something caught his eye. Suddenly, a little girl, no more than eight, leapt at him, dagger in hand. One of the officers dove and snatched her out of the air, much to the amusement of those present.

"Maybe there's hope for these people yet, we just got here ten years too early!" The officer pinning the girl shouted. Laughter.

As much as the threat the girl could have posed was real, the commander couldn't help but chuckle. They bound her, and at the commander's request, left her in his tent. Alone with the girl, he smiled.

"You've got spunk, kid. And a keen mind, too, sneaking up on us like that. It's a real shame you're so young, you'd have fought quite valiantly."

The commander paused and pondered. She was going to be sent to the POW hellhole tomorrow, but...

"Tell you what. I'm not supposed to do this but... I'll give you a second chance." He shuffled through some papers on his desk. "There's a... Ah. Here it is. I have a friend in logistics that owes me quite a few favors from our training days. I think I can call in one for your sake..." He began filling out some forms.

The girl's scowl never abated, but her eyes lost some of their piercing rage. It had finally started to sink in what was going to happen to her. Her worry for the future- and thanks for her captor's apparent kindness- remained hidden to all but the tall, blue-cloaked girl who stood silently at the back of the tent, watching.

Watching as the world warped in on itself again. She shook her head as the cool air helped to clear it. The cave had returned, the ladder behind her, a faint glow from deeper calling out with a siren song. The girl walked towards it.

"The staff won't give any of us anything. It's the whole Noxian ideal. Those with both strength and the will to use it rise, while those lacking fall." A faint female voice spoke, becoming more and more solid as the cave bent itself into the form of the inside of a barracks-style dormitory at night. "If you're strong enough for two, sure, you can protect someone. Otherwise, you're weakening yourself for no reason, and someone else will take advantage of it."

"But then, why did you-" A girl, evidently the one being spoken to, started to ask before being interrupted.

"I only stepped in because you weren't being given a fair shot. You grew up in a completely different culture, and nobody told you how things work here. Now you know, and can decide to use whatever strength you have however you can."

"But-"

"Look, I'm not completely uncaring. I'll keep an eye on you for the rest of this week. Or rather, I'll act like I am. If they chose to ignore my implied protection, then that's your problem save a couple of extreme cases. I'm far from strong enough for the both of us."

With a blink of the woman in blue's eyes, it was morning, outside of the dorm. One of the kids was bullying the small girl who had leapt at the commander back in Ionia. She was doing her best to ignore his insults, but then he struck her. Next thing anyone knew she had him pinned, with a blade to his throat. The staff swiftly rushed around the cloaked woman to the kids, trying to break it up before blood was spilled. They confiscated the sword. A smirk crawled across the lips of the observer, fondly regarding the scene in front of her. She stepped forward, and the rock walls of the underground passage reappeared.

She continued her journey through the cavern. The source of the glow was just barely visible- a large crystalline jewel that swirled with power- when the world shifted back to the Noxian youth camp.

"I know you gave that Ionian cur that sword!" The bully from before had a different girl pinned behind the dorm. It was late at night. "Why'd you do it, huh?" He slapped her hard across the cheek.

"I-I swear I-" she managed to whimper before being interrupted by a jarring punch. The blue-cloaked woman winced as the blow landed.

"Was it to humiliate me?" Another hit.

"I didn't-"

"Don't you lie to me! You're the only one who would ever help that trash!" He punched her hard again, knocking her out.

With a blink, the boy was gone, replaced by the Ionian girl in question. Silent tears streamed down her face as she held the bloodied girl tightly in her arms.

A whisper left the wounded girl's lips as her eyes opened. "S...Sera? Is that you?"

Sera nodded, her watery eyes parching as she spoke. "Natalie... who..."

Natalie closed her eyes, her pained expression chased away by an obviously forced look of confidence. "Don't worry, I can ha-"

"Don't give me that crap!" The tears resumed at full strength as her arms tightened their hug. "I don't care if it makes me weak!"

Natalie sighed, her eyes opening fully to stare at the girl crying. Her resolve wavered. "You won't let this go, will you?"

"Not until you're safe!"

Her eyes closed again, her expression one that tells of pain yet knows it to be only temporary. In a soft voice, "You already know who..."

The next blink saw daybreak, the two girls gone. A gaggle of kids could be heard chattering from the other side of the building. Walking to claim an actual view, the cloaked woman turned the corner in time to see Sera charge out the door. Her eyes were ablaze with anger. Natalie followed close behind, a bruise visible on her cheek.

"Leave Natalie alone, Cadoc." She yelled as she stormed toward him. All conversations stopped.

Cadoc laughed. "Why, what are you, her giiirlfriend? You aren't in charge here."

"Need I remind everyone here of what happened the last time you crossed me?"

Silence. Not a soul budged.

"That's what I thought. Now, if you so much as lay a-"

"I won't touch her!"

The cave returned, and the woman stood there, staring in the direction of the crystal she had been heading towards. Her lips quivered with worry for a moment, but then switched to confusion as she focused on her destination once more. It looked to be a nexus fragment, hovering there on its own power. Something was inside of it, but she was still too far away to make out any details. She continued towards it, until the walls dissolved into the inside of the dorm yet again.

"Nat..?" Sera asked aloud. Dawn was just beginning to break through a light cloud cover outside. Nearly all of the bunks appeared to still be occupied, save the one directly below hers. She climbed out of bed and headed outside, the robed woman in tow.

Upon stepping out the doors, her fears were confirmed. There was Natalie, bleeding profusely from several wounds, any one of which potentially fatal. She coughed, barely clinging to life as Sera rushed up to her.

Natalie smiled weakly, seeing Sera. "I-" A meek cough overpowered her for a moment. She paused to breathe, then tried again. "I guess I can't handle myself after all." A pained chuckle followed.

"Oh, Nat..." Sera broke down in tears next to her, holding one of the dying girl's hands tightly. "D-don't..."

"Ah, don't you worry, you'll be fine..."

"You... you can't..."

"Whatever you do, Ser, don't... don't let anyone change you. Promise?"

"I... I promise."

"Good... Now, I think I'll take a nap... I'll see you in the morning..." Her smile warmed as she spoke her last words barely above a whisper. Natalie's eyes closed for the last time. Her body went limp.

"Well well well... What have we here... The Ionian bitch mourning over her dead master?" Cadoc stepped into view, causing Sera's sobbing to slow.

"You should have heard her beg for _your_ life! It was pitiful! And now she's lost hers for nothing." He brandished the blade he had lifted from the armory. A real one, unlike the ones they practiced with.

Sera's breathing returned to normal as she continued to stare at her now-dead friend.

"Come on, stand up. Let's make a game of this! At least make it look like you tried to survive."

Sera stood and turned to face her tormentor. Pure rage pulsed through her veins, the thought of retribution forming the sole contemplation of her mind.

"Oh? Did I make you angry? Psh, as if you could fight me even with a weapon." He laughed loudly at her. "We'll all be better off once I've culled you from the flock as well."

Sera twitched. Glaring, she began to sprint at Cadoc. As she did so, her right hand fell back, and pulled a similar sword straight out of the air.

Cadoc's smirk livened. He swung at her with murderous intent.

She slashed upward upon reaching him, parrying the swing forcibly enough to launch both of their weapons away. With a twirl following through, she pulled another sword from the air and cleaved diagonally through Cadoc's neck, killing him just slowly enough for him mouth out "How?"

The world returned to the cave with tears streaming down the woman in blue's cheeks. She dredged on towards the nexus fragment, having lost all haste. The figure inside became clearer, appearing to be a human tucked into a bed.

"Strange, isn't it?" A voice asked, similar to Natalie's, yet older.

The rock transformed again, becoming the clean, smooth gray of what appeared to be the waiting room for an arena. Sera was older now, in her early teens. She wore dark blue robes, her hair was a lot longer, and a smirk of confidence had claimed her expression. There was another girl about the same age standing next to her, with shoulder-length white hair and purple robes.

"Strange, isn't it?" The voice was different from the one in the cave, belonging to the girl in purple.

"Er, what's strange?"

"Clyde. He just seems to point, and then everything there goes to hell."

"Eh, some people have different styles. Hell, you know if I was allowed to I'd just blink behind them and shove a sword up their-"

The maelstrom of meteors that Clyde had summoned interrupted their conversation. When the dust settled, his opponent was completely disintegrated.

"Geez, that's the third he's killed. You sure you can face him?"

"Don't really have much of a choice, Ilya. If I make it to the top of the bracket, he's probably going to be my opponent."

"I'm sure Iris would understand if you yield..."

"I'm not going to back down and leave a rot like him alone. Anyways, I'm up."

"G'luck!" Ilya gave Sera a quick hug before a puff of smoke replaced the girl.

Sera reappeared on the stage across from a girl named Hecate. The blinker flipped her hair out from in front of her.

"Can't you walk in like a normal person?"

With another purf of black smoke, Sera appeared next to the girl. "Walking is for people who can't teleport. Good luck?" She extended a hand. The other girl shook it.

"You too." Hecate smirked. Sera blinked back to the other side of the arena.

A booming announcer silenced the audience. "HECATE VERSUS SERA, BEGIN."

The air in front of Sera shimmered as she focused. Hecate let loose a long arc of electricity from her fingertips, directed at the other girl. Upon reaching the zone Sera created, it halted... until another zone flickered above them, and the lightning struck down at its creator. The girl rolled out of the way, and shot a few more bolts at her opponent, arcing them along the edge of the arena, around the reflection point. Sera vanished in a small black cloud as two of the bolts arced through her previous position. She reappeared directly behind Hecate, and tossed a small blue firebolt at the girl. It struck, eliciting a yelp.

The lightning witch turned, her face betraying her confusion at what she was just hit with. She prepared to fire another barrage at her opponent. Sera back-flipped away and released a swarm of tiny blue wisps. As she landed, they shot towards Hecate. The witch attempted to evade, springing into a cartwheel to the side, but the missiles pursued her without error. Detonating, their combined explosion launched her. Sera's eyes shut suddenly as she focused again. The air around Hecate shimmered and her speed drastically reduced before she slammed into the wall and slid down. She squirmed a little, but didn't stand up.

"SERA WINS."

Sera blinked back to Ilya's side. "Wow. That was fast... But I have to ask, why'd you slow her down at the end?"

She shrugged. "Didn't wanna kill her."

A little later, and Clyde was up again. Sera's eyes, however, were fixed on the crowd. Ilya was correct, something didn't sit right with how his matches were going.

As she scanned, she found what she was looking for. She smiled as a kinked dagger formed itself in her hand.

"Sera?"

"I'll be right back." And with that, she vanished. The woman in the blue cloak looked about the crowd, and found Sera just in time to see her slash a professor before teleporting back to where Ilya and the woman were. The blade dripped crimson.

"What did you do?!"

"Oh, just evened the playing field. You were right, by the way." She smiled broadly as the blade vanished. "Hmmm... Elcid hasn't shown up yet? Perfect. Wish me luck."

Sera blinked into the arena, and walked up to Clyde. "So you know, Professor Laurel had an unfortunate injury just a moment ago and won't be able to view this match."

The man glared at her. "I have no idea why you are here to tell me this. Go away, unless Elcid is using you as a replacement."

Her eyes closed and she smirked. "How about I ask him?" She vanished for a moment, then returned. In a commanding voice, she shouted. "Elcid has asked if I may fight in his stead."

"HE WILL BE DISQUALIFIED, HOWEVER, YOU MAY DUEL CLYDE NOW IF YOU WISH."

Her eyes shifted to Clyde as she stepped into the starting circle. "Let's dance."

"EXHIBITION MATCH, SERA VERSUS CLYDE. BEGIN!"

As the words left the announcer's lips, the arena erupted in a meteor shower yet again, Sera just barely blinking out of the way of the individual lumps of molten slag. The crowd gasped as the fireballs poured from the spell circle on the ceiling at a much faster rate than any of Clyde's previous duels. And then, they stopped just as suddenly as they had began. The smoke cleared, revealing Sera to still be standing, though panting heavily. Her robes were singed, and her nose had a trickle of blood coming out of it from the strain of evasion.

Clyde laughed. "Laurel was limiting this, you fool. Now, hold still."

Chains of pure magic lashed out for the girl, who managed to blink away just before they could bind her.

She reappeared to his right. And his left. And behind him. And all over the arena.

"Hmm, playing a shell game are we? Alright... Are you over... here?" The closest Sera on his left was smited by a large lightning bolt. As her body sizzled on the ground, it faded away. "Mm, guess not. Let's try this one!"

Meanwhile the real Sera scanned the crowd. There. She vanished, the kinked blade in her hand again. Appearing in the crowd, she kicked down a different professor and stabbed her with the weapon. She vanished and reappeared in the arena, the remaining clones disappearing as well.

"Was Professor Naussica your card?"

A look of worry flashed across Clyde's face. "W... what did you do?"

"See this blade? It's called Rule Breaker, or the real one is. It's a cursed sword I read about that is capable of dispelling any contract and sealing the magic of someone cut by its blade. This knock-off can only do it temporarily, but it will last plenty long for what I need." The blade vanished.

"Hmph, fine. I won't need any help against an Ionian dog."

Sera blinked behind Clyde and gave him an accelerated punch, knocking him out. "Woof." She turned to walk out.

"CLYDE WINS BY WAY OF DISQUALIFICATION. DURING THE DUEL, SERA LEFT THE ARENA, FORFEITING THE MATCH"

Sera gawked, staring up at the announcer's box. "Oh come on, a professor was casting spells for him!"

"WE WILL DISCUSS YOUR ASSAULT OF TWO PROFESSORS IN MY OFFICE. DUELS WILL CONTINUE TOMORROW."

The girl teleported next to Ilya. "Ugh this is such bullshit! Let's go." She sounded rather perturbed.

The white-haired girl opened her mouth as if to say something, but just stood there. Sera left the room. "Wait up!" Ilya shouted after her, and rushed to catch up.

The woman in the blue robe stepped through the same door, and found herself in a professor's private chambers. Professor Iris and her pupils Ilya and Sera were eating dinner, discussing what had happened, and what they should do.

Sera was being expelled for attacking two professors and dishonorable conduct in a duel, but no formal charges were being made, lest a real investigation were to reveal what was actually going on. Unfortunately, without the academy, she had nowhere to go, and the few that were willing to stand up for her lacked the clout to force the issue.

"Maybe you should try the League," Iris suggested.

"The League? Sera, have you even tried anything remotely like summoning before?"

"No... but how hard can it be? I already have both point relocation and projection mastered. Isn't it basically just a combination of those with a soul link thrown in the mix?"

Ilya laughed. "Wow, way to marginalize it."

They continued to talk through the meal, and Sera decided to go ahead and apply for training as a summoner at the Institute of War.

As the last plate emptied, Sera asked one more question. "How's Laurel doing?"

"Oh, just fine. His magic returned to him about an hour after you cut him, but he told me to tell you thanks for beating down Clyde and finding who the crooked prof was. He also told me that he'll make sure Clyde can't cheat like that anymore, and he's sorry they're kicking you out over it."

Sera smiled. "Good. Tell him it's alright, and I'm joining the League."

"As a champion?" Laurel stepped into the room. "Sorry, it wasn't locked."

"Haha, no, as a summoner. Hopefully, at least."

"Well... Tell ya what, I'll help fund it."

"Oh, thank you Professor! And uh... Sorry about stabbing you like that."

He chuckled. "It's alright, I've healed up nicely already, and I did look suspicious."

The world morphed back into the cave, at the mouth of the nexus fragment's chamber. A woman stepped out from behind the crystal. "Strange, isn't it," Natalie chimed in again, much clearer than she had before the previous vision. She smiled warmly at the woman in blue. "That morning came this quickly?"

The woman ran up to the fully-grown Natalie, her cloak's hood dropping as she did so. A few tears of joy streaked down Sera's cheeks as she hugged the other girl tightly.

"Look into the fragment, and tell me what you see."

She broke the embrace to gaze into the crystal. "I see..." The figure in the fragment was also Sera, in a League infirmary bed. She looked as if she was asleep. "I see... myself?"

"Yep. You've been out for a while, too. You're lucky Iris and Laurel are funding it. The League's bureaucracy would have pulled the plug a few weeks back otherwise."

"So... why are you showing me this?"

"Because it's time to go back."

"What?"

"Reach out to yourself, I'm sure she'll hear you. I must be going now, there are other preparations needed." The girl smiled as she faded away.

"Wait! Nat! Don't go! NAT!"

She let out a sorrowful sigh. "Reach out to myself..." She placed her hands on the crystal. Its hum stabilized as if in approval of her touch. "The hell does that mean..."

She stood there for what seemed like an age, staring at her unconscious body. "This must be what insanity is like. Eh... Let's try the literal approach." She took a hand off the side of the crystal, and reached in.

* * *

_Author's Note_

So this story was born from a forum RP that died about three posts in. Was quite attached to my OC for it, so I decided to write a fic with her instead. Hope you like it.

If this chapter was kinda confusing, hit up the next chapter before you start judging. This is intentional.

UPDATE NOTE: This fic recently acquired a more professional editor who actually doesn't know anything about the source material. Working with her, I've revised quite a bit, extended a few scenes, fixed a couple of transitions, etc, all hopefully to make this a much better, cleaner read. I've likely finished fixing this chapter (for now). Keep an eye on ch2 and ch3 for this note to make its appearance as well, as it signifies that they've been graced by a finer-tooth comb than they previously were subjected to. By the time the full ch4 is released, all three will have been raised to this higher standard. Enjoy ^_^


	2. Side Effects

"Good morning?"

She awoke to Soraka staring into her eyes. It startled her.

"Haha sorry, I saw you twitch while I was making my rounds and decided I'd stay a while. You are..." The unicorn-goat-girl's eyes shifted to a clipboard in her hands.

"Sera."

"Ah. Here we... Sera Solryk?"

"Yeah. What's wrong?"

"You... Nobody thought you were going to recover. Not even I did..." Her eyes glowed faintly for a moment. "Strange..."

...

"Welcome to Summoner's Rift!" The disembodied voice of the announcer chimed its usual eerie cheer. After a week of tests to confirm she was fine and could return to summoning, Sera was happy to hear the recording again.

"And here I thought you were just cheating on me with another mage~" a fox-girl giggled as she meandered over to guard against a jungle invade.

+Oh, Ahri, I could never cheat on you... For long, anyways.+ Sera's thought slid across the connection. It was strange, she actually felt like entertaining the vixen's flirtation for once.

The fox smiled. "Oh, you're playful now, too? Mmm, I should have knocked you out sooner myself~!"

+For some reason I don't think that'd have worked... Oh, and you might wanna dodge+

With a quick flip, the fox evaded a robotic hand that was shot out at her.

However, Sera was greeted by the unfamiliar and highly uncomfortable feeling of an appendage she didn't have being grasped tightly and yanked, as Ahri's tails didn't complete the dodge with her. The pain from what followed was more extreme than anything Sera had felt before; Ahri was slain almost instantaneously, and the force feedback of the death knocked Sera out.

...

"Welcome to Summoner's Rift!" The disembodied voice of the announcer chimed its usual eerie cheer. Sera looked around, confused.

Her summoner gave her an order to head over to the western side of the jungle. It was a sweet, familiar female voice she was to follow, and follow she did.

As she approached, the jungle swallowed her, morphing into a calm, quiet forest. She wandered for a bit, knowing how to get to where she was going but little more. Her destination, evidently, was a lake. The time had shifted to late night; the moon was full and low on the water.

+I'll be right there~+

The scene was serene, even if it was clearly not the Rift she was on. She thought about asking her summoner where she was, but decided against it. Her summoner was going to show up in person shortly, and would probably explain.

She sighed. It was different being on this end of the summoning ritual, and she wished her current summoner was more open about what was going on- like how she was when she summoned. She decided that the girl at the helm was probably new at this, and she wouldn't give her a hard time for the oddness of the current situation.

Sera wandered to the water's edge to gaze into the depths while she continued to wait. What she found in her reflection was startling. Atop her head poked two furry triangles of fox ears. Behind her a flurry of fuzzy fox tails slowly darted to and fro, numbering nine in all.

"There you are..." Her summoner sang. It was Ahri, only she lacked the vulpine features that now adorned Sera. The girl slid up to the confused fox and wrapped her arms tightly around her. "And now we're alone~" She giggled as Sera squirmed. "Do I really need to order you to kiss me?"

Sera blushed as her hands awkwardly found comforting spots on Ahri's back. She leaned in to kiss the girl. Their lips met, closed, much to the temptress's dismay. The seductress's arms held the other girl tightly as her tongue made a dive past Sera's lips. The sudden plunge was successful, and Sera's initial hesitation quickly abated as she let passion take over. They made out for a good while, finally parting to stare into each other's eyes.

Ahri began to speak, but her voice was drowned out by an odd ringing. The ex-fox was apparently completely unaware of it, even as it grew to a deafening volume.  
Wrestling her eyes out of the endless gold of the enchantress's, Sera began looking around for the source of the sound. Ahri looked on at her would-be lover's confused worry with a puzzled stare. Before she could comment on it, the ringing stopped.

And Sera awoke.

"Ugyuuu..."

"She's awake!"

Sera awoke in the League's infirmary again, aching all over. Her eyes opened to a worried group of medical staff. Ahri was on the bed next to hers, snoozing quite contentedly.

"Mmm?" Ahri stirred, her eyes blinking open.

"Good, Ahri's awake, too. You had given us quite the scare. Both of you. We've never had a summoner of Sera's experience pass out from a linked experience before, and we weren't sure what was going to happen."

The vixen's eyes caught Sera's, and a mischievous grin crept its way into her expression "Well, that was fun..." She winced suddenly. "Though I think it may have been just a tad *too* rough for my tastes."

Sera blushed heavily, recalling the visions from earlier. Ahri's smile widened.

A quick bank of tests and some painkillers later, the pair was released. It was dark outside when they left the infirmary building, with a lovely moon hanging low. The sound of their footfalls and a nearby fountain were all that resonated in that calm night.

"So..." Ahri began, hesitating slightly. "Did you notice anything... different about our link this morning?"

"Well... Your tails..."

"What about them?"

"They're rather... sensitive."

Ahri smiled as her theory was confirmed, but the smile quickly turned into a pout.

"Awww, this means I didn't finally get you to warm up to me."

Sera laughed. "So, you think the link was closer than normal?"

"Something like that. In fact, I'd-" She was cut mid-stride and sentence by a bright spell circle forming below her. "Sorry, honey, we'll have to continue this later." Ahri winked and vanished onto whichever Field she was just summoned to.

Sera headed to her dorm, pondering at the events of the day and what Ahri was about to say.

...

"What's wrong?" It was the same scene by the lake, though the ears and tails had returned to their rightful owner.

"You didn't hear tha- when did you get your-" Her hand shot up to the top of her own head, failing to find fox ears. "What's going on?"

The seductress rolled her eyes and shook her head at the panicking girl, a small, catty smile edging across her lips. She pushed Sera away, causing her to trip and land on a bed that materialized for such an act. "You're so tense!" Ahri teased as she pounced atop her prey, pinning her there. "But I can help with that." She kissed her captive tenderly, her tails caressing the girl as she did so. "Just trust me~"

Sera did, completely.

...

Sera awoke in her own bed. She was quite alone, and a long ways away from that bed by the lake. "What a dream..." she giggled, shaking her head. Checking the time, she sighed. It was too early to get up, but too late to return to sleep. Reluctantly, she climbed out of bed, and meandered over to take a needed shower.

The cool morning air of mid-winter bit into Sera as she exited the dorm. With a slight shiver, she went on at a brisk, light jog. There was still a very light dusting of snow on the grounds, just thick enough for her footfalls to crunch a trail as she headed towards the maintenance building.

As a freelance summoner, Sera had no government paying for her stay, and the startup funds her academy friends had given her only covered the training. In order to earn her keep, she helped keep the charms and barriers of the Fields and the grounds functioning. They had given her her time in the infirmary off, but this week she had a quota to meet.

The compulsory volunteer work she did was mostly minor duties: inspections, reinforcements, and the occasional hextech part replacement. However, thanks to the magics she was skilled with (and her proficiency with them), Sera was also a double-backup on the primary maintenance squad, covering for both the Breaker (person in charge of clearing enchants and disabling devices) and the Shield (person in charge of keeping people safe).

The doors to the maintenance annex swung open as the girl approached, welcoming her with a warm current of air. The man behind the front desk waved without looking up from the papers he was pushing, and was ignored similarly by Sera with a half-hearted good morning. She made her way into the left wing of the building, and checked the volunteer task board. Strangely enough, her name already appeared next to some of the tasks that were listed as completed, and one that was in progress. Confused, she touched the teleportation rune for the job.

The scenery of the field affectionately called "Murderbridge" by the summoners swirled insubstantially for a moment before solidifying into a stationary, corporeal form. The task was to check the status of the bush enchants, so she meandered over the bridge towards them.

"Eron! Why are you here?" Eron was one of the Weavers (person in charge of casting the new enchants) on the primary maintenance team.

"Ah, Sera, good, just the skill set I needed." He beckoned her over, chuckling. "And we can discuss my gift to you later. Right now, I want you to see something." He gestured over the side of the bridge he was closest to.

With a sigh, Sera leaned over to gaze into the impenetrable blackness of the chasm below. Here and there pairs of reddish lights winked in and out in defiance of the thick darkness.

"Sweet, isn't it? They can sense the field is weakening, so they're flocking so they can dart in as soon as it goes down."

"How the hell is that sweet? And what the hell are they?"

"Oh, I just find their commitment to- never mind. And they're Ra'Noc. There's gotta be at least a hundred down there already..."

"The hell's a Ra'Noc?"

"It's kind of like a voidic wyvern. The official story is a few breeding pairs slipped into our dimension and took over the chasm."

"Ah... wait, what? Official story?"

"Escaped test subjects? I didn't say anything about escaped test subjects!"

"Erm... Right. So. Why do you need my abilities?"

"Oh, simple, simple! It takes me a few moments to re-cast the barrier, so if I have to take down the current one myself, well, it won't end happily for me or the League. But if you take it down right before I finish, then neither of us should get eaten today!"

The girl blinked. "Ooookay, so, we're doing what we normally do with five with only two?"

"We'll be fine! I have every confidence we will succeed!"

She sighed again, shaking her head. "Alright. Lemme get into position... Wanna give me somewhere to stand?"

With a smile and a wave of Eron's hand, a small, glowing disc appeared about 20 feet above the middle of the bridge. Sera vanished in a puff of black smoke. Reappearing atop the disk in another puff, her eyes closed as she began to focus. The air around her shimmered as several kinked short swords materialized, floating around her. They glowed a purple hue, true to the real Rule Breaker they were imitating. "Ready! Shout when!" She yelled down, her eyes remaining closed with one hand fluttering in front of her.

After a full minute of drawing symbols in the dust, Eron shouted "When!", paused, and murmured something in an ancient tongue. The runes began to glow. At the call, Sera's hand snapped open. Streaks of purple connected the shimmering air bubble around her with the barrier as the blades launched themselves at it. They struck simultaneously.

The distinctive sound of glass shattering permeated the relative quiet of the bridge, but was quickly drowned out by the solid, resonating hum of the new barrier forming.

The dais on which Sera stood descended, depositing her gently on the stone brick of Murderbridge.

"Well done well done! I thought for sure at least thirty of them were going to get in!"

"Wait, what!?"

One of the Ra'Noc landed behind Eron.

"Yeah, only seventeen did!"

It edged closer.

"But you said-"

"That was *shouldn't* get eaten. Listen to what I say!"

With an angry groan, a red, bulky bolt-action rifle formed in Sera's hands. She pointed it just past Eron.

"H-hey! It's not my fault you misheard me! I-" The beast pounced. The gun fired. Now headless, the Ra'Noc's limp body merely flopped onto the weaver. He blinked at her for a moment, then shrugged off the corpse.

"Make that sixteen." Sera smirked as she chambered a new round- and flicked the hextech switch to automate that process.

A series of shrieks blared from overhead as a flock of the beasts soared, turning in a long arc to dive at the duo on the bridge. Sera fired into them repeatedly. Three dropped out of formation in an uncontrolled fall, a fourth and fifth dropped and struggled to catch up to the rest. They swooped at the pair.

And crashed into a barrier Eron had created.

A spell circle began to form behind them, seemingly of its own volition.

"That should hold them a good ways away... PULL! Or is this not like Skeet Shooting? Ah, well, I'll get started on a backup just in case." Eron began muttering more in the ancient tongue he spoke in earlier.

Shots fired again. Three crashed dead, including one of the injured ones. They rammed into the barrier again. Another pass, two more downed by Sera's rifle. The flock of seven swung around once more, another two getting shot out of the sky.

But right as they were about to strike the magical wall again, a piercing roar from behind the mages sounded, shattering it. Sera turned in time to see the very large and angry-looking Ra'Noc behind them turn away before one of the fliers crashed into her. The blow knocked her out.

* * *

_Author's Note_

Once I write ch2.5, this'll have earned its M rating. It will get written eventually, my editor friend went on a week-long strike when I said I was cutting it. I'm sure you can tell where that chapter will go.

_**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!  
**_


	3. Retrospective

Sera's eyes opened. She was on the bed by the lake, cuddled against Ahri, the latter's soft tails still wrapped warmly around her. She snuggled closer. The seductress was already awake, gently brushing her lover's hair. She smiled.

"Good morning~" The vixen placed a kiss on Sera's forehead.

The serene scene was shattered by an explosion in the nearby woods. Birds flew off, fleeing the rising smoke. Sera jumped, clinging to her fox. Ahri stared in its direction, sitting up. She hugged Sera back tightly, then looked directly into her eyes. "I'll protect you."

...

Sera awoke laying in a bed, tucked into the deep crimson silk that was its sheets. It was quite cozy, and if not for the unknown location, she would have likely fallen back asleep. Scanning around the room, it was a fair assumption it was one of the League's dorms- but not that of an average summoner. It was too lavish- the bed was ungodly soft and inviting- and too large- there was clearly more than just one room with an attached bath.

As reluctantly as she was that morning, she climbed out of the bed and opened the door to the main living space.

"She lives!" Eron laughed. "I knew we'd succeed... but... I'm not sure how you pulled off that last trick."

"Trick? What trick? After your barrier fell, I kinda got knocked out."

"Well, my backup plan was a thin mage armor that would at least buy us some time if the barrier went down. I wasn't expecting you to get knocked out in one blow, but you had an ace up your sleeve as well. Seriously, how did you do that?"

"Do what?"

He stared at her in disbelief for a moment. "You summoned. Why do you think we're in her room?"

Sera looked around the living room of the dorm. Girly and romantic were the first two words that came to mind. Coupled with the overly comfortable bed, it hit her. "I... I summoned Ahri?"

"Yeah. Right after the barrier went down, Ahri appeared and killed the entire flock. I just don't get it! How'd you do it? The strain from summoning without a catalyst alone should have killed you! Tell me!"

"A girl's gotta have some secrets, don't tell him~" Ahri entered the room. "Glad to see you're OK, Sera. I was a little worried when the connection formed without a mental presence. Wasn't sure what was going on, but those flying lizard things looked like they were up to no good." She giggled.

"Oh, welcome back, Ahri... How'd the match go?"

"I'd... rather not talk about it." She looked down and to the side.

"Yeesh, well, it happens. Sometimes you just get idiots on your team."

"Or in charge of you..." She looked back up, eyes locking onto Sera. "No more dangerous stunts for a while, kay?"

"Awww but Sera always saves the day!"

"I do?"

"Yeah, why do you think you were in that coma?"

"Um... I knew there was an accident but... my memory's a little blank."

"No wonder you were confused to see me! Here, let me show you what happened." Eron began weaving a spell.

"Show us?" Ahri asked inquisitively. It was the the closest thing to a complaint either her or Sera could muster before Eron whisked them into his own memories.

...

The trio stood in a cave. Ahri tried to comment, but her voice found no air to catch on. Eron shook his head and pointed.

Nearby a group of five were making their way down the ladder. Or rather, three of them were. Their Sera had blinked down and was yawning, tapping her foot, and looking at her wrist. A second girl flew down with a jetpack

"You know you could have blinked us down here too..." that girl said as she stepped onto the cave floor, joining the impatient Sera in her wait.

"Lily, you're wearing a hextech jetpack of your own design." Sera smirked. "Why didn't you fly them down?"

"Hey, ole' Kessy can barely lift me and my gear! Doesn't Dimension Door get an extra person every two caster levels or something?"

"And I'm using a caster level of one." Sera laughed. In spite of living in a world of real dungeons and real dragons, there were still quite a few that played games of the tabletop RPG genera. Only with the levels of magic available, so long as you had the right DM, it was done live-action.

The three on the ladder had reached the bottom as the argument finished.

"Calm down, ladies, us men couldn't bear to burden you with our transit."

"I could."

"Quiet, you! Ignoring Eron, it is unnecessary."

"Kinda like you being with us today?"

"Quiet, you! I'm here for the same reason I always am. Moral Support!" He pumped a fist into the air.

"Yaaaaay..." The girls and the one who hadn't spoken up yet cheered sarcastically.

"Quiet, yous!" He shook his head, chuckling. "As your fearless leader, I shall begin to lead the way." He began to walk deeper into the cave. The team followed, the trio of observers in tow.

"Why do they even send you with us, O Fearless One, when it's something that has almost a zero chance of requiring combat?" Sera inquired.

"Honestly... I have no idea... I kinda wish they'd stop so I'd have more free time, but then I think about how lost you four would get yourselves without me."

"Lost? Walking in a straight line?"

"Hey, what if we came to a support beam in the middle of our path? How would you know which side to pass it on?"

"Really..."

"Yes, really. Anyways we're almost there... Cole will take down the current controllers, then Eron'll put up a containment field. After that's up, Lily can replace the controllers. Sera, as always, pretend you're Petra and try to not get us killed."

"Thank you for your confidence, Cailen." Her eyes rolled.

"You've never been with us as the shield when we actually needed the shield. Save someone's life and I'll believe in you. Except don't because that would mean one of these three screwed up- and they all only have one job, too..."

"What will you be doing during this?"

"Why, Pinky, what I try to do every night like this. Try to fend off boredom!" At that, a bat swooped at them, having somehow found its way into the cave. Cailen flicked his wrist, and a spark ignited on it. It incinerated instantly. "Maybe I'll actually succeed this time... Remind me to request a border enchant check after this."

The team and their observers reached a chamber the trio's Sera recognized from before she awoke from her coma. The Nexus fragment hummed an unstable tune as its outdated and worn controllers struggled to contain it. The group set up. Lily laid out a few parts for quick access while Cole drew some runes and began some incantations. Eron created a floating dais on which for him to stand and began to draw some symbols in the air. Cailen sat by the entrance to the chamber, his eyes closed in what he'd usually call meditation rather the attempt at sleep it was. Sera stood nearby, looking very alert, intensely focused on the fragment in the center of the chamber.

The chamber flashed with light as Cole finished his spell, breaking the containment. Just as suddenly as it flared, the light reversed directions and the strained hum returned as Eron's barrier caged it. Lily rushed the pieces of the old controller out and the new modules in while Cole joined Cailen in boredom on the floor by the entrance. It took about five minutes before Lily finished her work, all the while Sera continued her staring contest with the fluctuations of the aura around the Nexus fragment.

A few calibrations later, and Lily shouted at Eron to let the crystal go. There was a dull flash as the barrier that was in place subsided and the hextech apparatus took over. "Alright just a couple more tests..."

Sera twitched. Something was off. The glow of energy around the fragment dimmed conically. The girl's eyes widened before she vanished into a puff of black smoke. A ripple formed in the glow from the fragment, perpendicular to the now-hyperbolic aura. Another puff expanded next to Lily who vanished into it. The ripple welled up and lashed out as the aura evened suddenly, sending arcing bolts in two directions. The smoke reappeared directly behind Eron, who was pulled into it as well. One blast struck where Lily was standing moments ago, the second the wall behind Eron's dais, leaving smoldering scorch marks where they touched the chamber.

Sera, Eron, and Lily all reappeared in a massive burst of black smoke in front of a now wide-awake Cole and Cailen. Or rather, they fell out of the air there, landing roughly, prone.

"WHAT THE HELL, SERA?" Lily yelled standing up. Then she noticed Cailen's gawking expression, and turned around. Seeing the scorch marks, she blinked blankly. "Oh."

The glow from the fragment flickered in the background. Nobody was watching it begin to well up again.

Eron began to chuckle. Sera dusted herself off, standing up. "Oi, Cailen, you trust me now?"

As the last word rolled off of her tongue, the glow ignited and another, larger bolt shot directly at Sera. It struck her with a thunderous tumult followed by a faint fizzle. Her eyes flashed brightly for a moment, before she collapsed, unconscious.

...

The trio reappeared in Ahri's dorm. The fox had a bit of a worried look on her face, but it faded before anyone noticed. "Nice reaction, Sera."

Sera smiled. "Thanks. Though I missed the second hit..."

"Don't be hard on yourself, you didn't have someone whispering sweet nothings like 'dodge' in your ear."

"Yes, anyways, you see, that was why I was doing your volunteer work for you. I felt I owed you for that, so I was giving you the rest of the month off." Eron glanced over at the clock. "Oh my look at the time! Sera, you must let me take you to dinner! Ahri too!"

Ahri smiled a coy smile. "My my, trying to buy me dinner first?" She giggled.

The three headed towards the fine dining complex at a leisurely pace, drawing no more attention than Ahri's normal amount of turned heads. On the way there, the vixen spotted Soraka heading in the other direction. "Erm... I'll catch up." The temptress chased after the healer.

...

She never caught back up to them. They had finished dinner in a timely manner, and Eron walked Sera back to her dorm. The two parted with a thank you. She entered her room, and promptly went to bed.

...

Ahri was garbed in a slightly modified Midnight outfit, standing in front of the bed Sera laid on. The covers were pulled up to her chin. They were by the lake, the sun just beginning to peek over the water's surface. Facing the pair, a colossal dragonlike creature roared from the treeline. It had apparently caused the explosion earlier. The fox's tails spread wide as the whole of their owner began to glow. Her orb hummed into appearance at her beckoning. "Shall we?" A smirk grew over her face as she dashed to battle.

As the fox and the foe fought, Natalie appeared suddenly on the side of the bed, watching the conflict. "Wow, how did you manage to snag that one!" She looked at the surprised Sera. "Or is she the one who caught you?" She giggled.

"N... Nat?" Sera stammered, confused by yet another appearance of her childhood friend.

The girl smiled. "Alas, time is not on our side once more." She crawled up to Sera and gave her a passionate kiss. Sera's eyes went wide, glowing, while their lips touched. Nat broke the kiss, her smile swiftly reclaiming its ground. "That should solve one problem. The others I'll leave in her capable hands, at least for now. Good luck!" She winked and vanished.

...

Sera came out of her morning trance on the summoning platform as someone whined about how they had called mid. She had apparently summoned Ahri without thinking. +Oh well, it wouldn't be a practice "pug" match if someone's jimmies were not rustled.+

"I appreciate the dedication. Oh and um... I'm sorry for missing dinner last night."

A few eyebrows raised, both on the Fields and in the summoning chamber.

+It's OK... What did you discuss with Soraka?+

"Nothing special~"

The match continued relatively normally. Sera and her vixen dominated mid- something that happens a lot when a jungler camps the lane of a hot-headded Brand who over-commits. Teamfights proceeded as expected, and the battle quickly went to the side with the fed fox.

...

"We only lost because of your dumb ass getting..."

It was much later that day, in the cafeteria. Things seemed to be returning to normal for Sera. The feedback problem was gone as far as she could tell, with only a heightened sense of closeness remaining. Eron was covering her volunteer shifts for another week, and her exploits on the Bridge the previous day were chalked up to a desperate power surge.

She was eating dinner alone. Intentionally. As a backup for the shield, there was a hypersensory spell which Petra had taught her. The cafeteria was a good ground for practicing it, as there were always many needless conversations to scan through, and tracking multiple at once was a challenging mental workout.

"That was a really nice shot on..."

"I hate playing with randoms who..."

She took a drink before continuing to scan.

"She seemed distant, like the link..."

"How do *you* suggest we counter..."

Sera twitched as she processed one of the threads. She strained to find the previous voice amidst the noise.

"... like the link was being interfered with somehow."

Sera frantically searched for the reply, and found it.

"You sure she wasn't just distracted?"

"Maybe, but it was weird. When I asked her about it, she-"

"Hey Sera." A familiar voice interrupted the eavesdropping. "Mind if I sit down?"

The girl shook her head briefly to clear it of the spell, and chimed up with some form of permissive acknowledgement. When her senses refocused, she found Petra sitting in front of her. "Oh, hey!"

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I? What were you doing?"

"Nothing important, and I think you know. You're the one who told me to practice it here."

"Ooooooh, that. Keeping up with your practice still? Good girl! And speaking of that, good job with that accident. While it should have been me, you probably did as well as I would have. I've never seen a nexus frag flare up like that before."

Sera smiled. "Thanks. For some reason, though, I don't think that was why you came to see me..."

"Yeah, it wasn't. A team of mine has a match coming up, and our support player had to withdraw due to some... Let's say unforeseen circumstances. Would you be willing to fill in for him?"

"Sure, why not. When's the match?"

"In about twenty minutes."

Sera busted out laughing. "What? Why didn't you ask anyone sooner?"

"Because I didn't know Alareik was going to be such an ass! You in still?"

"Yeah. I'm done here anyways. Lead the way."

* * *

_Author's Note_

I'm totally backing myself into a corner when it comes to needing a huge infodump chapter... I swear I'll figure out how to do it in-character. Pinky Promise.

_**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	4. Ch4 Teaser (Temporary)

Sona floated calmly in the snow-speckled bush, wearing her seasonal Silent Night garb. A blue aura pulsed from her with every idle pluck of her etwahl as Graves finally caught up to her. "Evenin' darlin'."

She played a greeting of her own in response.

+Ugh, why'd it have to be Raka and MF? At least top and mid are going to have an easy time...+ The thought sounded tinny, as if the connection wasn't complete.

The muse played a reassuring jingle as a thought slid back across the connection in reply, ignoring the quality. +I'm sure our performance will be spectacular regardless, Sera.+

"Ready, darlin'?"

The troubadour had reached the lane quite quickly and had tossed a ward into the far bush of bot lane before their opponents arrived. As Graves came into view, so did Soraka and Miss Fortune. The latter was currently spinning one of her pistols around in boredom, waiting for minions to spawn. Strategy had been discussed prior, and since there was all but no hope for Graves and Sona to win in a farm or sustain contest, the pair were going to go all in from the start and hope to secure an early lead. Alareik was cocky and quickly flustered, so an early kill on his support was the goal. At Sona's nod, the outlaw lifted his prized rifle. The announcer's cheery voice declared that minions had spawned, and Graves sighed. "We ain't got time to wait now. Show 'em how it's done."

The pirate hunter yawned, her eyes closing right as Graves flashed forward and gave both her and her support a surprise greeting of buckshot at point-blank. Almost in synchronous, the maven behind him struck a pointed note, launching bolts of a similar blue color as the aura around her. The goat-unicorn caught fire and managed only to temporarily silence the muse before one more shot from Graves silenced her for good.

Fortune flashed away and trotted off, shaking her head, and trying to hold back a laugh. Minions arrived with the carry in tow, and as the farm-fest began, she shouted to the maven and her charge. "I told them that would happen. So much for me always shooting first, huh?"

Soraka arrived, with an annoyed look on her face. "Be at peace, Alareik. The match is not lost."

Sona plucked something similar to a laugh as she smiled broadly. Graves smirked. "Well, that worked." Louder, "Mind lettin' us do that again, Soraka?"

The healer's eyes flashed slightly as her summoner forced total control. "Fuck you, Petra!"

With that, the muse began convulsing in silent laughter. Graves smirked even more, offering another goad. "So that a no?"

With an enraged growl the starchild charged into a hail of bullets and slicing sound, throwing yellow crescents of energy at the source of her harassment. She fell again.

"There any more fish in that barrel?" The outlaw chuckled.

* * *

_Author's Note_

Alright so just a teaser (which may very well see some changes before the final draft gets put up in its place; the heavy polish doesn't see use until the content is finalized) update to let everyone know that I'm both still alive and this fic is still being worked on. I've actually written all of ch4, but some of its content may need some tweaking that is dependent on how ch5 goes, so odds are I'm going to add both of them together in one big chunk update. And there will be much rejoicing.

I also wanted to let everyone know that a friend introduced me to a friend, and that friend-of-a-friend is actually a rather talented writer and editor. She's offering me a much more editor-like editing, and in the next few weeks you'll probably see some tweaks and edits going around on the first three chapters as I dump a couple of extra buckets of polish onto them in an attempt to make them visible from space.

Sorry for the long delay between updates, please stick with me on this. This is my first real writing project, and I'd like to thank those of you who have this one followed.


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